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As the face of your business, there are some tasks that only you can take care of. But if you’re draining your energy on all kinds of other things outside of your zone of genius, it *may* be time to think about hiring someone.
So which tasks should you be offloading? And in what order? Whether you’re a solopreneur or someone with a decent sized team, listen in as Nicki and Kate discuss the most effective way to grow your team, while giving your business a great deal of stability.
Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!
A Sneak Peek at the Episode
[3:17] A lot of business owners want to get to the next level of income before hiring someone but the truth is that you need that person in order to get to the next level of revenue.
[8:04] Doing an audit of your time will give you a good sense of how much your time is worth to your business (and when it might make sense to outsource certain tasks).
[11:02] As you look at the tasks on your plate, start categorizing them based on your enjoyment and ability. The tasks that you hate and are not especially good at would be the first ones to offload, and then you can work your way up.
[13:30] By asking your team members to do regular time audits, you can avoid burnout and falling into the trap of needing to hire someone, but having no time to go through that process.
[16:35] There are a lot of things that are easy, but also drain your energy. Entrepreneurs tend to hang onto these tasks (like commenting on social posts) for a lot longer than they should.
[19:40] When business owners regularly spend time on customer service, they often cling on to negative feedback, which can affect focus and productivity.
[24:01] When you outsource customer service tasks to the right person, they will share necessary information with you in a way that strips it of emotionally driven language. This will positively impact your ability to do your job and drive the business forward.
[29:14] There will always be tasks that fall in the category of “this is draining but I’m good at it”. Even though you’re the expert, it doesn’t mean you need to be doing it. Nicki gives an example of how she outsourced these tasks in her own businesses.
[34:39] By outsourcing tasks to people who do things differently to how you would do them, you can add value to your customers. They now have access to more than just one perspective and can receive feedback from a different angle.
[36:01] As you grow from solopreneur to a small team, you can ensure it runs super efficiently by making sure everyone is–for the most part–working on tasks they enjoy (including any challenges that come with them).
[38:35] You’re doing a disservice to your business, your team members, and your customers if you are dissipating your energy on things outside of your zone of genius.
Mentioned on this Episode
Related Links
Must-Hear Takeaways
As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But, here are a few of the highlights:
“I think the trap is it’s easier in the short term. It’s not in the long term and it’s not even easier in the short term in some ways because your plate is just so, so loaded and you need space to be able to think of and work on the things that only you can do. If there are things on your plate that someone else can do and can do at a cheaper rate than you, then why wouldn’t you look to hire?” – Kate
“It makes sense to think, okay well I’m going to get to the next level of income, of revenue, and then I’m going to be able to hire this person. But the truth is, you need that person in order to get to the next level of revenue. You have got to where you could on your own and now you need that resource in there to get to the next level. It’s not revenue first and then you hire that person, that person helps you get to that level of revenue.” – Nicki
“It is already a challenge to run a business without you working on all kinds of stuff that drain your time, that don’t have a big impact, and that drain your energy and don’t let you take a vacation. We don’t have the luxury of throwing away our energy, we need to be working in our zone of genius, that is where our energy needs to be going as much as possible.” – Nicki